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Point Pelee 11/05/26

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I left early this morning to get to the tip by 6.30. Weather conditions weren't exactly conducive to a significant fall, with clear skies and a northerly wind, and it was no surprise to find fewer birders there today. Nevertheless, there was a sprinkling of warblers, including Blackburnian, Black and White, and Blue-winged, though sadly I didn't get on to the latter in time. Several Eastern Kingbirds were present, though best of all was a female Scarlet Tanager, which had me scratching my head for a while as to it's id. Later in the morning I walked the Woodland Trail which leads back to the visitor centre. Part of this trail is a wetter, more open area, with some dead trees, and this was the most productive area today. The birds there included a couple of very obliging Prothonotary Warblers, one of which flew onto the path almost by my feet. There was a Great-horned Owl, though I would never have noticed it had not a fellow birder let me look through his 'scope. A coup...
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Point Pelee 9/05/26

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Being Saturday I decided to miss the tip today as I felt it would be extremely busy. Instead, I concentrated on areas north of the visitor centre, some I'd not been to before. To start with I walked the Tilden Trail, seeing Black-throated Green Warbler, Northern Waterthrush, and a new bird for the trip, a Yellow-throated Vireo. The trail eventually led to the Cactus Field, a promising looking area of scrubby bushes and trees. I'd already heard that there was a Yellow-breasted Chat here, and what a show the bird gave, singing and perching in full view for minutes on end at not much more than head height. Nearby I found a female Eastern Bluebird, in rather muted colours.  Then I walked the path from Sleepy Hollow to Dunes, seeing a pair of Great Crested Flycatcher, and in tall trees by the parking lot both Blackburnian and Magnolia Warblers. They stayed high all the time and watching these was definitely a case of 'warbler neck'. The final visit was back to the Delaurier ...
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Point Pelee 8/05/26

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Up at the ghastly hour of 4:30 today in order to secure a parking spot at the visitor centre and be at the tip as early as possible. It paid off though with a succession of good birds if not a classic fall of migrants. It had been cloudy overnight but the sun soon broke through in the morning. By 7 am there were at least several hundred birders at the tip. For the second day running I was very pleased to find a new bird for me, a Blue-winged Warbler, though it didn't hang around and only a few saw it. Other birds seen there included the following: Indigo Bunting, Baltimore Oriole, Warbling Vireo, Red-eyed Vireo, Blue-grey Gnatcatcher, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Least Flycatcher, Savannah Sparrow, Field Sparrow, plus Black-throated Green, Yellow-rumped, and Magnolia Warblers. By 11am I was feeling rather shattered so had a break before continuing in the afternoon, another visit to the Delaurier Homestead just up the road. This has rapidly become a favourite location, being a pleasant wa...
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